Siege

At that moment, atop the walls of the Hive City.

Ork Boyz swarmed across the walls, their rough skin gleaming a dull green in the sunlight. They carried all sorts of modified Big Booms and choppas, gathering in small groups and trading coarse jokes and insults.

"Hey, look at the mess in the city! It's like a beehive somebody's poked!"

A Shoota Boy carrying a Bolter-sized Big Boom chuckled, his eyes full of schadenfreude. "I saw those Boyz running around like headless squigs. Bet some poor git's gone and picked a fight with something he shouldn't have."

A stocky Choppa Boy beside him heard this and leaned over to peer inside the walls. Flames soared through the Hive City, and thick smoke billowed everywhere. "Who knows? Maybe some nest of monsters crawled out of a crack in the ground."

He scratched his furry chin and bared his sharp tusks. "Just heard a Gretchin say it saw some blue thing that smacked a Heavy Boss flat with one hand. Sounds proper Waaaagh to me!"

"Who gives a damn what it is? You believe everything a Gretchin says?"

A huge Heavy Boss passed by, impatiently interrupting the two Ork Boyz' conversation. "Instead of wasting time yapping, get serious and keep a proper lookout!"

"This wall's tall enough to poke a hole in the sky. Those soft-skinned Shrimp won't be climbing up here unless they've really grown wings, just like those terrified deserters said!"

The Shoota Boy wasn't scared at all. He just grinned.

Another Choppa Boy nodded in agreement and was about to add something when the edge of his eye caught the distant horizon.

His pupils suddenly contracted. His rough fingers trembled as he pointed into the distance, his voice changing pitch. "Wait... w-what's that?!"

The Ork Boss and the Shoota Boy looked in the direction he pointed. The next second, their faces were filled with horror.

On the far horizon, a plume of yellow smoke rose into the sky. Within it surged a torrent that looked as if it had been forged from steel!

Hundreds of tanks advanced in neat formation, their treads grinding over the earth with a deafening roar.

Their heavy armor gleamed coldly in the sunlight, and their gun barrels pointed skyward. Like ravenous beasts, they rolled toward the Hive City!

"N-no way!"

The Shoota Boy shrieked, his voice full of disbelief. "Have those Shrimp gone mad? How dare they?!"

"Quick! Get all the Boyz moving!"

The Ork Boss abruptly came to his senses, his eyes bloodshot as he roared, "Open fire! Fire! Blow those suicidal Shrimp to bits!"

Deafening alarm bells instantly rang out across the walls.

The Ork Boyz rushed toward the defensive positions in a panic. Black-mouthed cannons swung around, aiming at the torrent of steel.

The next moment, shells poured out like a torrential downpour, shrieking through the sky. Heavy rounds wove an impenetrable web of fire as they raked the tanks.

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"

Violent explosions rang out one after another.

Flames soared, and smoke billowed.

But the tanks weren't blown to pieces as the Ork Boss had expected.

The shells struck the Super-heavy Tanks' thick armor with dull thuds, throwing off showers of sparks.

The steel torrent kept advancing. Its treads crushed the scorched earth, picking up speed as it surged toward the Hive City's gates like an unstoppable mudslide.

"Damn it!"

The Ork Boss leaped with rage. He pulled a communicator from his uniform and bellowed, "Artillery positions! Open fire at once! Fire every shell you've got!"

But the panicked voice of one of his underlings came through the communicator. "Boss! We can't! You forget? The heavy artillery positions just about all went down! It'll take time to get them working again..."

"What?!"

The Ork Boss's heart sank.

Just then, the torrent of steel finally came to a halt.

The tanks stopped in unison some distance from the wall. A dozen thick gun barrels among them slowly rose, aiming at the towering steel fortifications.

Seeing this, the Ork Boss instead sneered.

A bunch of idiots!

Did they really think the Void Shield was so easy to break?

The next moment, blazing flashes burst from the tanks' guns.

Shells streaked toward the walls, trailing long tongues of flame.

But, unexpectedly, the shells weren't swallowed by the Void Shield. They detonated before they even struck it.

The shells burst in midair, but produced no shock waves. Instead, dense clouds of smoke bloomed and rapidly spread with the wind blowing in the right direction.

In the blink of an eye, thick smoke blanketed the entire stretch of wall. Everything turned white, and visibility dropped to less than a meter.

"What the hell is this?!"

The Ork Boss frowned.

"Can't see? So what? Don't be scared!"

He quickly regained his composure and roared at his Boyz, "Keep firing blind! Maintain suppressive fire! Don't let those Shrimp get close!"

The Ork Boyz were uneasy, but they still obeyed and fired wildly in the direction of the enemy.

The Ork Boss narrowed his eyes, his mind racing.

He was a Blood Axe Clan Ork Boss, not like those idiots who only knew how to pick fights. He knew how to restrain himself and win with a clever plan.

"Smoke... those Shrimp made all this smoke. What are they trying to do?"

The Ork Boss muttered to himself. "We can still fire. Are they trying to climb up under cover of the smoke? Impossible. This wall's too high..."

But soon, he no longer needed to think about it.

A faint smell of ozone quietly spread through the air.

Then the crackle of electricity rang out in the smoke.

"What's going on?"

The Ork Boss suddenly grew alert. He gripped the chainsword axe at his waist and shouted, "Who's there?!"

The next moment, figures clad in gray-black power armor appeared on the wall through the smoke, like phantoms.

They stood tall, their Power Swords gleaming with cold light. The black muzzles of their Bolters and Assault Cannons looked fearsome.

"Th-those are Shrimp in cans!"

An Ork cried out in terror.

"Oh no, it's a Warp translation..."

The Ork Boss's pupils suddenly contracted.

Before he could react, a flash of sword light swept past.

"SPLURT!"

The crisp sound of a blade slicing through flesh rang out.

The Ork Boss froze in place. He looked down at the deep wound in his chest, blood gushing from it like a fountain.

The next second, his massive body crashed to the ground.

Leonardo withdrew his Power Sword. A few drops of blood stained his Wraithbone Terminator armor, but did nothing to diminish its majesty.

He surveyed the panicked Ork Boyz on the wall. His voice was calm, yet carried an icy certainty.

"Kill them. Leave no survivors."

The moment the words fell, cold sword light flashed again.

Amid the roar of Bolters and the Ork Boyz' anguished screams, the Astartes efficiently wiped out the Xenos on the wall.

The control system for the Hive City's enormous gate was no exception. It was breached as well.

Under the Astartes' control, the heavy steel gates slowly swung open.

The torrent of steel beneath the walls immediately rumbled back into motion, rolling toward the breached gates.